Looking At Interchain Security
Discover Interchain Security & Cosmos Hub, and why $ATOM hit $45 in January 2022
Interchain Security: a Cosmos-specific category of shared security built using IBC, also known as Shared Security, Cross Chain Validation, Cross Chain Collateralization, and Shared Staking. Interchain Security (IBC) is essential to Cosmos Hub's success:
It enables hub minimalism
Lowers the barrier to launching secure, decentralized public blockchains
The market cap of the staking token, which may take some time to gain value, relates directly to the security of the Cosmos chain. As a result, the project encounters several security risks, which is why Interchain Security is essential.
Secure your chain with Interchain Security
Launch an EVM, CosmWasm, or Cosmos-SDK application and benefit from the validator set of the Cosmos Hub and Atom's entire market cap.
Interchain Protection draws security from the Hub, so it's often referred to as a "consumer chain." On platforms like Ethereum, setting up one is simple - just install a smart contract. With Cosmos-SDK, you can customize your consumer chain even further.
Consumer Chains
Consumer chains come in two flavors: contract and custom. Interchain Security and similar consumer chains don't compete with other apps in terms of transactions. No unexpected congestion, plus better performance than Ethereum's shared smart contracts - it's a win-win!
Consumer chains keep more of the fees collected from users compared to smart contract platforms. Fees can be used in the protocol or allocated towards a project's community DAO - it all depends on how it's set up!
Consumer chains don't have their own validator sets. The network will vote on which chain the Cosmos Hub validators adopt, driving engagement and showing true commitment to long-term success.
Introducing Interchain Security v2: Layered Security
Interchain Security requires 3 operations to be present in Cross-Chain Validation: Validator Set Updates, Reward Distribution, and Evidence. Combine local consumer chain staking tokens and the Cosmos Hub ATOM provider to determine your validator set for ultimate security!
Future of Cosmos consensus
Interchain Security promises amazing features, like synchronous cross-chain communication. Our unofficial team just published a paper on this - check it out!
Development and further resources
We're currently focused on Cross Chain Validation—the IBC app-level logic needed for Interchain Security. Our model-based testing is helping shape the spec to make it happen!
Stay up to date on Interchain Security and Cosmos! Follow all of the latest news via the Cosmos Twitter feed, or check out our blog for more info.
Conclusion
Interchain Security is a game-changing security primitive with huge implications for the future of single blockchains and public blockchain applications. It drastically lowers the barrier to running secure networks - opening up exciting new possibilities!
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